It was a week ago Saturday morning. I was calmly sitting in an empty gate area in the Portland PDX airport waiting area enjoying a few bites of an apple fritter and a cup of coffee when I heard my name paged overhead. Hadn’t heard that in a few years. Not since my days working in ICU and that has been awhile. I thought surely there was some mistake when the operator announced my name again, and this time said for the entire airport to hear:
“Please return to the Southwest Ticket Counter! If you arrived on the shuttle from the Holiday Inn airport hotel (I did), you have taken the wrong carry-on!”
Well, hellllooooo! THIS time I glanced down at MY carry-on which CLEARLY had MY name and identification tag on it but to be sure opened it up and – yep! There it was! MY personal journal and MY blood pressure prescription – oh yes, clearly labeled! (I was obviously going to need it any minute now – the prescription that is). This time, I was mad! I went to the nearest telephone and picked it up. The operator connected me with the Southwest Airlines desk. I identified myself and assured her that I had never been to the Southwest ticket desk! Ever. I was flying United and, in fact, I had checked in at curbside!
To make matters even clearer to her, I commented that I had never ever flown their airlines! I was in possession of my own clearly marked carry-on! She suggested that I just bring said carry-on to the Southwest Airlines ticket desk! What part of my CLEAR explanation did she not understand?! My plane was (supposedly) minutes from loading and I had absolutely NO intention of heading “back” to somewhere I’d never been to in the first place! While I DO have a “mercy” spirit (it’s one of my “gifts”), I was I having a hard time coming up with it at the moment!
Once again, I reassured her that the carry-on in my hot little hand was my very OWN luggage. I felt sorry for the two individuals who had each other’s luggage – I really did. And, in the end, I would arrive in the Midwest with ONLY this carry-on (next post) and more than my share of frustration with the airlines industry.
Oh, how I was looking forward to actually being within DRIVING distance of family once again…